Francis' Renunciation of Worldly Goods

Francis' father, Pietro d' Bernardone, was a well-to-do cloth importer, and young Francis assisted him as a traveling salesman. One day, after Francis sold his father's wares in the market, he thought of the San Damiano crucifix, contributed all of the sale proceeds to the church, and never came home again. Pietro sued his son for the return of the money. The growing friction between Francis and his father exploded publicly in October of 1206 when Pietro Bernardone pursued his son to the central piazza of the city and demanded repayment for all that Francis had squandered in his generosity to the poor—and for the money Francis had spent in his restoration work. Before all the townspeople gathered there, Francis stripped himself naked, renounced his hereditary rights, and gave his fine clothes back to his astonished father. The Bishop of Assisi, who had witnessed the dramatic gesture, wrapped his cloak around the young man, who thereafter dressed himself in a simple flaxen tunic tied at the waist with a cord. Hence Francis solemnized his “wedding” with his beloved spouse, the Lady Poverty, under whose name he surrendered all worldly goods, honors, and privileges. Whatever the attitude of the people around him, Francis began to recognize the true nature of God’s call. While Francis thought initially that he was called to reconstruct a dilapidated building—and though he also restored two other deserted chapels, St. Peter’s, some distance from Assisi, and St. Mary of the Angels of the Porziuncola in the valley below Assisi—he gradually came to recognize his vocation in rebuilding the spiritual life of the Church by bearing witness to the saving power of the Gospel.

St. Katharine Drexel

Saint Katharine Drexel, was born in 1858, into a prominent Philadelphia family. Katharine became imbued with love for God and neighbor. She took an avid interest in the material and spiritual well-being of black and native Americans. She began by donating money but soon concluded that more was needed - the lacking ingredient was people. Katharine founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Black and Native American peoples, whose members would work for the betterment of those they were called to serve. From the age of 33 until her death in 1955, she dedicated her life and a fortune of $20 million dollars (estimated $600 million in today's money) to this work. In 1894, Mother Drexel took part in opening the first mission school for Indians, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Other schools quickly followed - for Native Americans west of the Mississippi River, and for the blacks in the southern part of the United States. In 1915 she also founded Xavier University in New Orleans. At her death there were more than 500 Sisters teaching in 63 schools throughout the country. Because of her lifelong dedication to her faith and her selfless service to the oppressed, Pope John Paul II canonized her on October 1, 2000 to become only the second recognized American-born saint.